The Rapp auction house has scheduled its next public auction on May 22. This sale will offer to collectors’ attention a great variety of Swiss, European and Chinese stamps and postal history, plus a broad range of worldwide collections. One of the brightest lots, which will be presented during this auction, is China’s 1897 surcharged red revenue stamps, the $5-on-3¢, with the surcharge inverted.
Pressed into service when a postage stamp shipment was delayed, the 3¢ red revenue stamp was overprinted with five different denominations, resulting what today are coveted issues for any collection of early China. The 3¢ red with the $5 surcharge upright is a scarce stamp on its own, but the variety with inverted surcharge, as offered in the Rapp auction, is one of the most valuable ones.
The stamp is in unused condition with “slightly sweated gum and one shortened perforation at the bottom.” It was authenticated earlier this year by Martin Eichele of Briefmarkenprufstelle Basel and deemed “genuine in every respect.”
The auction house has set a starting bid of 30,000 Swiss francs, or roughly $29,450.
